Google Maps is littered with small links to pages with information about local businesses, from pizza parlors to dry cleaners. Business owners can claim their listing page through the former Local Business Center and add information, photos, menus, and the like.

That won't change with the switch to Google Places, which will only be seen by businesses that log into a dashboard that's somewhat similar to the system Google advertisers use with AdWords. But within that dashboard, they'll now be able to specify things like the geographic area they serve (for mobile businesses like plumbers or pizza delivery), obtain a custom QR code that mobile phone users can scan for a link to their place page, and (this being Google) a new advertising format.

Businesses in Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Houston, San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C., can add "tags" to their Google Maps search result listing that allows them to highlight certain aspects of their business in yellow, as opposed to the red place markers that signal their location. These ads cost $25 a month, and Google has been experimenting with them in Houston and San Jose up until this point.

About the author

Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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